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James Bond

New Superman Henry Cavill has risked incurring the wrath of James Bond fans by insisting that 007 could be played on the big screen by an American.

The Man of Steel star, who was considered as a potential Bond before Daniel Craig got the job in 2005, tells Reuters that film fans should welcome an American 007 just as much as they should a British Superman.

He says, “As long as I can do it convincingly, as long as I can play an American well enough, then I’m OK with that, and I wouldn’t mind if an American played Bond, as long as he’s good and played the role right.”

And Cavill, 30, could still be in the running to play the movie superspy – and become the first actor to play both 007 and a comic book superhero – Golden Eye and Casino Royale director Martin Campbell recently revealed the main reason Craig beat him to Bond was because Cavill was too young at the time.

The filmmaker said, “He was 22 at the time we auditioned for Casino Royale, but maybe he could still be James Bond in the future, after all, Pierce Brosnan did a great screen test only to eventually get the part years later.”

Britain is at risk of losing the James Bond movies after plans to expand the franchise’s iconic Pinewood Studios were rejected.

Bosses at the movie unit in Buckinghamshire, England applied to local planning officials for permission to extend the site across an area of adjacent land in what would have been a $310 million project.

However, the proposals were turned down by officials at South Buckinghamshire Council on Wednesday due to the expansion taking place on ‘greenbelt’ land, where prominent building work is restricted.

Councillor Bill Lidgate says, “We’re 87 percent greenbelt in South Bucks and those policies are jealously protected. The point people must understand is that Pinewood Studios do not make films, they rent out buildings.”

Just days before the rejection, Pinewood chief executive Ivan Dunleavy warned the studio faced losing the Bond films if the expansion didn’t go ahead.

He said, “If we as a sector don’t respond to the growing demand (for bigger and better facilities) then someone else will. (The Bond producers) have to be financially responsible. If they get a better proposal elsewhere than the U.K. can mount then they have to look after their business as well.”

All except two of the 23 films in the Bond franchise have been filmed at Pinewood.